Alien: Isolation

BanzaiCat · October 17, 2014, 08:12:11 AM

I watched Prometheus and still don't know WTF it is about.

JasonPratt · October 17, 2014, 08:15:16 AM

On a semi-related note:

I finished watching the 2nd Doctor's Web of Fear last night, and was impressed with how it took a Lovcraftian space horror and cute furry yeti robots (returning from a couple of stories earlier in the season), and made a fairly legitimate (for the budget) combination of the original "Who goes there?" short story and Hawks' film adaptation of The Thing From Another World. Which naturally opens up comparisons to X the Terror From Beyond Space and thence to Alien or rather Aliens.

Meanwhile, Angry Joe's actual review goes up:

Incidentally, the Joes (not the ones from the game, though he makes those jokes along the way) confirmed something in this review that I had been wondering about: can the Alien hear your motion tracker? YES IT CAN!!

JudgeDredd · October 17, 2014, 09:20:44 AM

wow...his enthusiasm for it really grabbed me.

I thought it was a bit disconcerting when he said "one of the 3 times" you meet the xenomorph...are there only 3 occasions when it enters the game?

Rayfer · October 17, 2014, 09:33:11 AM

Quote from: JudgeDredd on October 17, 2014, 07:31:36 AM
I thoroughly enjoyed Prometheus.

I think I took my Alien head off and just watched it as a film - with a brushing of Alien in it.

I liked it too...very much so. Thought it was a great sci-fi movie apart from any connection to the Alien franchise. That said, I have no interest in this game.

BanzaiCat · October 17, 2014, 09:53:01 AM

Quote from: JudgeDredd on October 17, 2014, 09:20:44 AM
wow...his enthusiasm for it really grabbed me.

I thought it was a bit disconcerting when he said "one of the 3 times" you meet the xenomorph...are there only 3 occasions when it enters the game?

It appears much more often than 3 times. He's exaggerating. He tends to do that. :)

I won't spoil it for anyone that's on the fence, but it gets more intense later in the game.

mirth · October 17, 2014, 10:27:23 AM

The Angry Joe review makes me kinda want to play it now and I had no interest before.

JudgeDredd · October 17, 2014, 10:48:19 AM

Quote from: mirth on October 17, 2014, 10:27:23 AM
The Angry Joe review makes me kinda want to play it now and I had no interest before.

Exactly what I am feeling

Must hold out though. Sale just around the corner!

undercovergeek · October 17, 2014, 10:54:14 AM

Quote from: JudgeDredd on October 17, 2014, 10:48:19 AM
Quote from: mirth on October 17, 2014, 10:27:23 AM
The Angry Joe review makes me kinda want to play it now and I had no interest before.
Exactly what I am feeling

Must hold out though. Sale just around the corner!

''Love, wheres the credit card???? im just not buying this game for a few minutes''

JasonPratt · October 17, 2014, 11:33:43 AM

Joe said the first two times the Xeno shows up are kind of scripted partials, and he thought they could have been better combined into one pre-occurrence, if one was needed in order to salt the early stages of the game with some actual Alien action.

I gather (not having played the game but having seen several videos of different stages) that Joe and the other Joe were livestreaming the first time the Alien fully shows up to stake, with Angry Joe loading before that point to get Other Joe there quickly in order to see his reactions: the player seems expected to hide under a gurney, kind of forcing a particular cinematic shot of its full body pouring from the vent but mostly its legs. After that, it hunts freely on any map once the plot triggers.

By the way, I like how the Xeno is much larger than it typically seems from Aliens style games (and the 2nd movie itself), including Colonial Marines. In the first film the effect kind of shuffles around because sometimes it's a guy in a suit (smaller than in the game) and sometimes a puppet (I think, thus can be larger, or at least the suit is shot in a way to make it seem much larger.)

This is a promo set up by IGN a little while back, showing portions throughout the game up to the end, as employees play it. I guess I've seen the end now -- I can see what people (including Angry Joe, and some Grogheads upthread) mean by a weakly abrupt end.

JasonPratt · October 17, 2014, 11:41:38 AM

OutsideXbox's kind-of-review, focusing on why the game won't break your heart this time

BanzaiCat · October 17, 2014, 11:52:29 AM

Quote from: JasonPratt on October 17, 2014, 11:33:43 AM
By the way, I like how the Xeno is much larger than it typically seems from Aliens style games (and the 2nd movie itself), including Colonial Marines. In the first film the effect kind of shuffles around because sometimes it's a guy in a suit (smaller than in the game) and sometimes a puppet (I think, thus can be larger, or at least the suit is shot in a way to make it seem much larger.)

The Alien in the first movie was played by a dude in a creature suit - a 7-foot, 2-inch-tall gentleman.

http://blogs.indiewire.com/shadowandact/b8565920-b9a3-11e1-9f68-123138165f92

The Alien in A:I doesn't seem much taller but maybe you're right.

Huw the Poo · October 17, 2014, 11:54:21 AM

Quote from: JasonPratt on October 17, 2014, 11:33:43 AM
This is a promo set up by IGN a little while back, showing portions throughout the game up to the end, as employees play it. I guess I've seen the end now -- I can see what people (including Angry Joe, and some Grogheads upthread) mean by a weakly abrupt end.

I've seen that video...I assumed it was a small episode designed for PR...? The players seem to be encountering the alien for the first time then finishing shortly afterwards.

JasonPratt · October 17, 2014, 12:59:00 PM

Oh, it's taller in-game -- it seems like the size of the Alien Queen from the Colonial Marine game (keeping in mind she looked small for a queen compared to the movie). It has to hunch to creep around the corridors; the designers even emphasize the size by making the floor shake when it walks.

Admittedly, some of that tall appearance may come from forcing a lot of clever camera shots (as in the movie for that matter). But compare with the standard human-based aliens in Colonial Marines (a game by the same publisher though not by the same studio) which aren't much if at all bigger than any of the soldiers.

No kick-dancing "Hello my baby, hello my darling" Alien here...! It feels like a dragon.

(I know some people, like AngryJoe, were disappointed it only used the walls and ceiling for transitions in and out of an area, but that's in tune with the first movie: the suit was rather clunky.)

JudgeDredd · October 17, 2014, 01:17:41 PM

By the god of Thor! I am seriously feeling this game ::)

ok...I'm back under control.

Stop watching videos and wait for the sale.

JasonPratt · October 17, 2014, 02:09:32 PM

I know, right? I could get at least one game for free, maybe two, a month from now...

... A MONTH FROM NOWWWW!!

Right. Okay. I don't even want to play this game anyway.

And I have umpty hundred other games I haven't finished or even played. I have AssCreed 2 and its expansions, I could work on them instead of Shadows of Mordor -- or more Lotro...